1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a repair apparatus and method for attachment to a sliding door to facilitate the sliding of the door on the door track and without the need to remove and reinstall the door and without the need to remove, replace, or repair the original sliding door wheels whenever a wheel breaks, wears out or malfunctions.
2. Description of Related Art
A sliding door is a well-known moveable closure generally comprising a closure panel connected to an outer frame having wheels or rollers generally mounted within channels in the bottom of the door. The door opening has side to side wheel tracks that guide horizontal movement of the door. Wheel or roller assemblies are usually mounted at or near the four corners of the door panel and extend outward for engagement within the upper and lower tracks. Solid rigid opaque or translucent panels, screening or glass is typically placed within the recesses located within the frame to form the sliding door.
A sliding door is normally held in position by first inserting the upper rollers into a channel or track mounted in the door frame, and then inserting the lowers rollers into a track running along the floor. To inhibit the door from popping out of the lower track, the lower rollers are generally circumferentially grooved to accommodate an upwardly protruding projection running longitudinally within the track and onto which the roller groove rests.
Wheel breakage, wear and tear, and embedded dirt/debris on or within the wheels or rollers on an uneven door track account for most of the improper sliding of the doors. The wheels must be in good working condition for the door to smoothly and continuously slide on the tracks. Previously, if a wheel broke or wore out it had to be immediately replaced to enable proper sliding function of the door.
The replacement of a wheel in a prior art sliding door required removal of the door, disassembly of the door frame to reach and replace the affected wheel and often times necessitated replacement of the entire wheel assembly. This procedure was time consuming, cumbersome, often ran the risk of breakage of the glass door or physical injury, frequently necessitated often difficult to find replacement parts which may even require contacting the door manufacturer, often needed more than one person to perform the task, was costly and, if a screen door, required replacement and re-stretching of the screen within the frame once the wheel assembly was replaced and door reassembled.
After original installation of a sliding door, the lower wheels often begin to wear, break, collect dirt or otherwise malfunction which diminishes the ease with which the door slides horizontally between the open and closed positions. The wheel track can become uneven or not level. Installing the present invention can be accomplished without the prior need to remove the door from the framed opening and removal, replacement or repair of the original wheels.
The sliding door repair apparatus attaches to a conventional sliding door assembly having at least one slideable panel. The sliding door is supported on a lower track and disposed within a door frame. The slideable panel is conventionally constructed typically with at least two wheels attached to and extending downward from the bottom edge of the slideable panel. The wheels support the panel on the lower track and enable the panel to slide in a horizontal fashion to an open and closed position.
The present invention overcomes many of the above prior problems with sliding doors by providing a novel sliding door repair apparatus comprising first and second roller assemblies, each being attached to the sliding door without having to remove the door from the door frame and without having to remove, replace or repair the defective wheel. Each roller assembly has a rigid vertically adjustable bracket attached to a conventional sliding door having upper and lower wheels as originally manufactured, a roller attached to the bracket such that the roller assembly sufficiently assumes the weight bearing pressure placed on the sliding door""s original wheels during the sliding action thereby allowing the door to freely, continuously and smoothly slide within the tracks.
More specifically, the present invention comprises a first roller assembly having a first rigid xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped bracket with an elongated slot for receiving a rigid fastener to securely mount and vertically adjust the first bracket into proper height position at the bottom trailing junction of one side member and the bottom member of the slideable panel. The first roller assembly having a roller with a center opening and a first axle threaded through the center opening is mounted to the xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d bracket at the proximal end and has an endcap at the distal end of the first axle to retain the first roller on the first axle. The first roller is situated atop and in rotatable and supporting contact with the lower track, the lateral planar side of the roller being in parallel arrangement relative to the plane of the slideable panel. The weight of the slideable panel is lifted from the original defective wheel(s) by proper height adjustment of the first bracket which transfers the weight to the first roller thereby facilitating the sliding of said door along said lower track.
A second roller assembly also comprises a second rigid xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped bracket having an elongated slot sized to receive a fastener to securely mount and vertically adjust the second bracket into the proper height position on the lower leading edge of the slideable panel. A circumferentially grooved second roller having a center opening is threaded onto a second axle, the ends of the second axle being securely mounted between two opposing arms horizontally projecting from the second bracket situating the second roller atop and in rotatable and supporting contact with the upwardly projecting ridge of the lower track such that the weight of the slideable panel is transferred from the defective wheels to the grooved second roller, thereby facilitating the sliding of said door along said lower track.
The first and second roller assemblies are of simple, economical, and substantially open construction and easily installed on and removed from virtually any sliding door with minimal effort and tools, and without the cumbersome, difficult, dangerous and time-consuming need to remove the door from its previously installed location.
In accordance with these and other objects and advantages which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.